Twenty-six of the state's business people have been named finalists for the 2001 Ernst & Young Utah Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Winners in the awards program, founded in 1986 by professional services firm Ernst & Young, will be announced on June 18 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
This year's regional finalists, as selected by an independent panel of judges, are:
Greg Butterfield, president and chief executive officer of Altiris Inc., Lindon.
Gary L. Deaton, president, and Don Watkins, CEO of American Covers Inc., Draper.
Rick Craig, CEO of America First Credit Union, Ogden.
Rod Morley, CEO of Axiom Financial Inc., Orem.
David Blain, Jeff Olsen, Eric White and Eric Weight, partners of BOWG, Salt Lake City.
Michael A. Cameron, president of Christopherson Travel Group, Holladay.
Brian Beck, area president of ConsultNet, Salt Lake City.
Ed Kalbach, president of EK Ekcessories, Logan.
Brent L. Bishop, president and CEO of Greenbacks Inc., Salt Lake City.
Philip M. Thompson, chairman and CEO of Industrial Supply Co., Salt Lake City.
Bridgette Server, CEO of Memories & More Inc., Centerville.
David P. Bailey, president and CEO of Moroni Feed Co., Moroni.
Brad Pelo, founder and chairman of NextPage Inc., Lehi.
Daniel B. Fugal, CEO, and Guy LeRoy Fugal, president of Niels Fugal Sons Co., Pleasant Grove.
Kent H. Murdock, president and CEO of O.C. Tanner Co., Salt Lake City.
Michael J. Pratt, president and CEO of Ogio International, Bluffdale.
Jerry H. Petersen, president of Overland West Inc., Ogden.
Patrick M. Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, Salt Lake City.
Ronald Heinz Jr., CEO of Phobos Corp., Salt Lake City.
Rhoda Ramsey, Georgia Ball, Jodie Bennion, Barbara Carrier, Sue Christensen, Norine Foote and Richard Lockwood of the Ramsey Group, Salt Lake City.
Andrew Raguskus, president and CEO of Sonic Innovations Inc., Salt Lake City.
John W. Chrisman III, owner of Storm Products Inc., Brigham City.
Eric Olafson, president and CEO of Tomax, Salt Lake City.
Sam Stewart, CEO of Wasatch Advisors, Salt Lake City.
Robert H. Sherwin, president and CEO; Berkeley L. Geddes, executive vice president and chief information officer; and Dallan W. Quass, executive vice president and chief technology officer of WhizBang! Labs Inc., Provo.
Larry C. Nicholls, president of Wholesale Tire Distributors Inc., Logan.
Local sponsors for the awards include Aon Risk Management; AT&T Broadband; Browne; the Deseret News; Layton Companies; Media Works; Merrill Lynch; Oracle; Parsons, Behle & Latimer; and Utah Business Magazine.
Reservations for the June 18 banquet may be made by calling 350-3430 by June 11. The ticket price is $100 per person.
Winners from the Salt Lake region will be eligible for the national entrepreneur of the year award, which will be presented during an international conference on Nov. 17 in Palm Springs, Calif.
For more information, see the Ernst & Young Web site at (www.ey.com/eoy).